CCR Reflection Essay

A youthful image is portrayed as a key theme as the band is displayed as carefree and energetic. Facial expressions such as the guitarist sticking out her tongue gives the audience the impression that she has an upbeat attitude.

Their costume is free as they wear baggy and loose jeans and t-shirts, the loose clothing mirrors their personalities which aren’t strained to anything. Their costume and facial expressions create an easy going atmosphere and this has purposely been done to appeal to the audience who look to see a fun going band. This links to the star image created for the band showing that just like everyone they are regular people having fun. The music video is  fast paced cutting to the beat which generates hype and an upbeat atmosphere highlighting their livelihood.The doodles on the digipak show their youthfulness and playfulness as the free flowing lines run through the covers and around the polaroids. Additionally the front cover shows their adventurous side symbolising their path as a band and their growth in life.

The polaroids in the inside hold a yearbook sense which re-emphasises the youthful image of the band and relates to the audience as they are still in highschool. The digipak is created in a playful sense as it links to the campaign showing their personality.This is a stereotypical representation that adheres to young bands in the pop rock genre. The representation mirrors the target audience I am trying to reach as they are girls aged 16-17 who are in their adolescent ages. The band represents what teenagers stand for which is being full of energy. This has positive connotations as for the target audience they see a band that they can relate to. As your teenage years are when you begin to explore to find yourself and ‘Buzzkill’ gives teenage girls the thrill and energy they are looking for at that age. However this also has a negative connotation as parents could interpret their personalities as influencing their children negatively through the energy they generate in the music video.

The main social group I present is gender. Subverting from the gender stereotypes of a female on the digipak she is placed equally with the boys. Close ups show more of her talent rather than her body. Through long shot duration she gets the same screen time as the boys showing equality reflecting the audience's ideology as it’s an age group that believes that women and men should be equal. Her costume is just as loose as the other three boys instead of her dressed in a dress.  Throughout instagram and twitter she is posted just as much as the other band members are. This is because it plays into the concept of the band being close friends. This connects to the star image of them being friendly approachable normal people. Overall our social group doesn’t conform to Mulvey’s male gaze theory as our audience isn’t expected to be male therefore the camera isn’t used through a males view.

Pop rock genre holds an upbeat atmosphere that reflects teenage girls aged 16 to 17. By using a handwritten font and a jade and purple on the digpak it creates a lively and vibrant mood. This mood is mirrored in their instagram and twitter as the posts hold the same colour generating energy between the two products. This is shows the brand of the band and the kind of playful personality they have. The polaroid style is carried out between digipak and instagram showing a sense of youth allowing the target audience to relate to the band as they feel in a sense represented.

This makes the audience more invested in the band generating a bigger audience for them. The front cover of the digipak doesn’t have any band members on it showing that they are trying to sell the music instead of the actual people. This links to the star image as it shows down to earth personality. It also links to the brand I am creating as it is their attitude and their ideology that the audience are looking at. This attracts their audience more as it emphasises the band's humble personality which is the brand that I am trying to create. The doodles of the band playing around on the front cover of the digipak mirrors the music video as an element of them playing with a game console is displayed in the video.This fits into the genre as it is full of energy reflecting the band’s personality.  Our target audience fits into the E section of the Jicnars scale as they are underage teenagers that aren’t working and are still in school. Creating products that are full of life mirrors the brand our audience is looking for as the band portrays an image of them being regular people that dress like everyone else. The long shot duration shows the band's talent and how much they enjoy creating their music.The star image created is a market-worthy image that the target audience would be attracted to as the band’s rhythm and music create a tone that makes them want to follow the band.

To reflect the female teenage demographic elements such as having animations on all four panels creates a playful sense that is also shown on twitter. This gives the audience a feeling that they are all part of the same journey and using the polaroids from the digipak as countdown posts on instagram re-emphasises this. The doodle of lips on the digipak is a reference from the guitarist sticking out her tongue in the music video which makes the audience feel familiar with what they are seeing creating  a sense of safety as they become familiarised with the products. The social media allow the audience an insight of the bands life through behind the scenes shots which makes them feel unique and a part of a community. They create social media as it plays into the campaign allowing them to show how approachable they are to the audience.

To engage our audience we use ‘uses and gratification’ theory on personal relationships and identity. Personal relationship applies to my products as the band’s social media creates a friendly atmosphere that makes the audience feel invited. This is shown through their post of them hanging out more specifically on the post of the band helping one of them to get up showing their friendship.

Creating posts showing the audience where the band started off makes them feel as though they are being let into this personal journey which creates intimacy. Using a question tag on their instagram allows the audience to interact with the band engaging them which makes them want to know more. The music video also creates a sense of a personal connection as the audience is able to see the band’s world through their eyes through their garage setting. Sharing an experience and emotion creates a bond between the band and the viewers. The concept of the band making it allows them to feel like they’ve grown with these people, like they actually know them.  This links to the start image and the concept of the band as I want to create an image of a band that makes people feel comfortable with them even though they’ve never met. This allows the band to grow their base as they begin to attract more followers. On the digipak the polaroids have a sense that it's from the band especially to the audience and no one else. They create a yearbook feeling that engages them more as they feel that this is something they relate to as the audience is still in high school.

McQuail, Blumler and Brown also identified Personal identity which is when the audience uses media texts to reflect their own lives and values.This is displayed through the band hanging out while playing video games and messing around. This reminds the audience of what they are currently doing at their age and this engages them as they’re seeing what they do. The use of the Vhs filter creates this nostalgic feeling and at this point Vhs cameras and effects are what are popular with the audience. The concept of the band making it towards the end makes the audience feel that just like the band at some point of their life they will also make it.

The doodles on the digipak hold the connotation of youthfulness as it’s a reminder of youthful years. This engages the audience as they are currently in those years meaning that they are being reminded to live their life freely just like the lines. The idea of the band hanging out in their parent’s garage also engages their audience as they give their audience an insight into their personal life. Creating links like these between the band and the audience engages the audience as they begin to be more invested in the band for example buying their merchandise or going for their concerts.

From my research I looked at the band Blink 182 and from this I was able to see the key symbolic conventions in a music video. I followed the convention of having a performance element showing the band's talent and the kind of energy they have.This links to the whole campaign as it shows that their energy isn’t only on social media but in their music which keeps the audience constantly engaged. A filter is used over parts of the music video to create an aesthetic atmosphere making it memorable. The colour scheme is more bright than dark mirroring the band’s personality and their music. Less serious facial expressions which are captured through mid shots are used to evoke emotions in the audience and to highlight their personality.

Their costume is casual and laid back telling the audience that they like comfortable clothing which is what I also found in my research of pop rock bands. Technical conventions such as close ups and long shot duration are used to show the lead singer and this is because he defines the band’s image and personality. A wide shot is used to capture the setting of the video allowing the audience to see the concept of the music video. Following conventions makes the audience feel more familiar with what they are seeing. Following these conventions ensures that the concept of who the band is being put across and interpreted in the right way. However I also decided to subvert some genre conventions for example instead of having a boys band I decided to have three boys and one girl. This allows the products to stand out from other products in this genre and makes it more relatable to the  audience . Having a girl creates a connection between the band and the audience as they feel a personal attachment as a sense of representation is felt.

The key convention of social media is having the band hanging out while they play video games and them showing

their personality. This re-emphasises the relationship between the audience as they relate to the things that theband do as they also do the same things as them.  It creates a cool sense that the people they look up to also do regular things. On social media their use of emojis creates an informal atmosphere as their audience don’t feel like they are reading something their parents wrote but rather someone their age.

On the digipak the font creates a feeling that links the audience to  the band as the font looks handwritten making it feel more personal and it becomes more of a from the band to you.This links to the polaroid on the social media has they both have a personal feeling. However, having done research Andrew Godwin’s theory states that all music videos have typical conventions no matter the genre. Our video adheres to some of these conventions like having close ups of the band and having a performance element.

My final music campaign

Below are all the final products that make up the music video. All the following products have been created in order to sell the pop rock band that we are trying to create. 

The music video 

The music video shows the bands talent and their personality allowing  the audience to see what they are like and the kind of music they create.

The digipak artwork

The album artwork allows the audience to associate the music to the band. All three products  are linked together to create this campaign that reaches our target audience allowing the band to  get more and more exposure.

The social media 

The social media allows the audience to interact with and they also get to see the band’s ideologies.

https://www.instagram.com/buzzkill.official/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/BuzKilofficial

Screen recordings

Below is a screen recording of the social media incase the links don't work.

Making of part 8 

Today I worked on editing the video to make sure it was the closest to the final version. I went through the performance cut and the non lip sync. At this point the performance cut was the best cut I had done. I didn’t want to keep re editing the performance cut as constantly editing it would ruin the video as I'd just keep moving them around. Working on the non lip sync part was the hardest part and took the longest. This was because the effect I was trying to create wasn’t on Premiere pro so I had to find a way to make the effect work.









I found a technique that allowed me to create the distorted camera look the group wanted. To create this effect I created three layers of the same clips for all the clips that needed the effect. After creating the duplicate layers I added the RGB effect on the first clip and made sure it was 100% Red then did the same for the next layer but made it green and the next blue. On all the three layers the effect was colour burn light so that you could see the layer below. I also changed the positioning of the clips so you could see the glitch effect and the fourth layer didn’t have any effect on it so that the brightness could be seen in the clips.

Before the effect 

After the effect 

I also added a recording png to show that it was actually the camera recording and I added time stamps at the bottom to show it was running. I added the bar on the recording part as well to ensure that there is a clear difference between the performance and the camera parts.

Working on adding the bars and time code

After going through all of this I need to work on colour grading the performance cut.

Making of part 7 

On this day I edited more of the band hanging out through the video. I worked on the parts where the band opened the fridge as this had to be in sync but I also showed the fridge opening as it’s part of the joke that it looks like an amp. I also re edited the part where Molly and Georgie played the PlayStation to show the actual controls. I also added the fade out effect toward the end so when the lights go out they go out completely.

Making of post 6

After changing the music video slighting to show more of the lead singer I still had to think of incorporating the instruments to carry the music video so it doesn’t get boring constantly see the same face. To ensure it doesn’t get boring I added bits of the instrument.  In this version of the music video I mainly worked on the ending and this was because towards the end of the music it gets slow and begins to die down. This became slightly harder to edit as then the video itself starts to die down so I added more clips towards the end then I also re edited the recording studio part. I did that after thinking about it and re-watching the hand held stuff didn’t really work, especially because this part wasn’t going to have the bars or the effects on it. I added the clips that looked really good then cut it to the beat.

Making of post 5

Having taken into consideration the targets from the group feedback campaign I decided to go back and re-cut and edit the performance. This allows the video to develop and reach the standards it needs to reach. These standards are meant to meet the audiences expectations and cutting the performance cut to a fine cut will ensure that the audience are able to the band that we are trying to sell to them. For this I cut the durations of the shots slightly longer so the audience are able to see the band's talent and this way they are able to appreciate it. I cut some of the bits where we hear the lead singer sing to shots of the lead singer so that the video isn’t just centred on the band but the lead singer as well as he is the lead singer. 

I added the handheld camera throughout the performance as well as it shows that it’s not just a music video but it’s also them performing for themselves.

For the ending I kept the cut between set 1 and set 2 as I thought it was quite strong and it was a good link. I also added the part of them walking to the recording studio to establish where they were going before the recording studio. I added the hand held stuff from the recording studio as I thought it created a playful atmosphere that mirrors the music video itself. 

Group Campaign Feedback 2 : whole campaign

After looking at all three products I think so far the campaign is doing really well. All products are clearly part of the pop rock genre and they create a certain image of the band that is playful. They all create the image of the band we have been trying to create and they connect well together. The social media links to the digipak as they use the same images and same colours and both of them link to the music video by using the same cast throughout the campaign as if they were an actual band. The music video needs to be developed by more cutting, the social media needs more posts on both instagram and twitter and the digipak needs to be re arranged around. 

The social media uses the imagery as the digipak 

Targets 

Social Media - work on the colouring and how the legal information will be placed. 

Music video - make music video less random by cutting to the music

Digipak - Work on the placing and rearranging of the legal information.